Detained US military plane takes off from Mumbai

Mumbai, Oct 19 (ANI): A detained chartered US military aircraft Boeing 767 took off from the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport here on Monday evening.

The Bangkok bound North American Airlines plane hired by the US military had violated the Indian airspace on Sunday morning and was made to land.

The pilot of the aircraft failed to ascertain the correct AOR signal when asked for it by the air traffic controller (ATC).

The aircraft was asked to land after its call sign was not registered.

On Sunday, U S Embassy officials succeeded in getting clearance for the plane after having dialogues with the Ministry of External Affairs, the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) and the Indian Air Force.

The plane was carrying the 205 commandos of the US marine Unit, from Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to Bangkok for holiday.

In Agra, speaking to the media on the sidelines of Indo-US joint Air Force wargames, the Defence attaché of the US Embassy, Colonel Stuart Kowall said the plane was detained because of a misunderstanding.

This is the second US military plane detained in Mumbai. Earlier in June, Russian agencies AN-132 aircraft hired by NATO forces working in Afghanistan was forced to land in similar circumstances. (ANI)